On Friday, September 8th 16 participants boarded six Sonars to enjoy a day of racing in support of sailing and marine education in Oyster Bay at the 2017 Benefit Regatta.
Conditions could not have been more favorable, with clear skies and an eight knot westerly providing ample breeze for the sailors, along with plenty of beverages from the Oyster Bay Brewing Company. While the first race was a traditional fleet race around a port triangle course, afterward the race committee made things interesting. The various wrinkles thrown into the competition included downwind starts, reversed racing, mystery marks, and surprise starts.
As is tradition, the last race of the day required all boats to backwind their sails from the windward mark to the finish. Despite the challenge all boats managed to cross the finish line stern-first, with two boats nearly requiring a photo-finish. At the conclusion of racing the participants made their way Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club for a cocktail reception, dinner, and the awards presentation. With a stellar line of four firsts, Eggnog managed to secure the win, with GoGo and Tamarack rounding out the top three.
On behalf of the WaterFront Center we would like to thank all those who made it to the event, especially our lead sponsor Farrell Fritz, along with Advantage Funding, Forest Ironworks, Intercounty Paving, Bruderman Brothers, and Chlidren’s Radio Productions. See you all next year!
Catch up on all these memories on the WaterFront Center’s Flickr at flickr.com/photos/waterfrontcenter/albums